SOUTHBOROUGH — The primate research center that has been the site of
four primate deaths in recent years will close within two years because
of concerns over funding, Harvard Medical School officials announced
Tuesday.

In a statement, school officials said the New England Primate Research
Center will shut down in 12 to 24 months. Administrators said they
decided to close the center rather than seek the renewal of a federal
5-year grant. The decision came, they said, after reviewing "the
long-term academic benefits and the financial cost of continuing to
operate" the center.

The lab came under scrutiny when, over the course of two years, four
monkeys died there, from mid-2010 to the beginning of 2012. Officials
said in the statement released by the school that the decision comes in
a time of diminished funding for medical research. Steps had been taken
in the last two years to improve the day-to-day operations at the
center, the statement says.

Officials said they struggled with the decision over whether to renew
the grant, administered by the National Institutes of Health, but agreed
that "winding down" the activities at the Southborough facility would be
more beneficial to the college at large.

"Deciding how to best assign our limited resources is not unique to
HMS," Jeffrey S. Flier, dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Harvard
University, said in a statement, "but this decision was made with a
heavy heart."

The decision to close the center, one of eight national primate research
centers across the country, was seen as a loss to other researchers.

Joseph Carey, vice president of public affairs at the Texas Biomedical
Research Institute, which hosts the Southwest National Primate Research
Center, said in a statement that researchers there were dismayed at the
news of the Harvard facility’s closing.

"The Texas Biomedical Research Institute is disappointed to hear that
Harvard University has decided to phase out its New England Primate
Research Center," Carey wrote in the statement.

"We strongly support
research with nonhuman primates, will continue to host the SNPRC and are
committed to assisting the NEPRC in an orderly transition in placing
their primate colonies, research programs, and faculty and staff."

Harvard officials said transition plans are being hashed out for faculty
and staff members, with a focus on ensuring that the animals remain
properly cared for.

School officials said the primates now at the site will be transferred
to one of the seven other national research facilities or managed in
Southborough while keeping with proper protocols.

"I am personally committed to instituting a transition that embodies our
tremendous respect and gratitude for the Center’s faculty and staff, and
one that guarantees the welfare of all animals in our trust. I am also
confident that we can achieve our research goals through collaboration
with a vibrant national scientific community," Flier said in a
statement.

After making headlines following the deaths of the monkeys there, the
center was cited early last year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
which determined employees had made mistakes. Last summer, the center
made changes to abide by the recommendations of an independent panel of
scientists reviewing operations.

Animal rights activists, who have repeatedly criticized the facility,
welcomed the news.

"The closure of Harvard’s Primate Research Center is the best news I
have ever heard," Michael Budkie, executive director of Stop Animal
Exploitation Now. "The potential exists to bring freedom to many monkeys
and to redirect millions of dollars into clinical and epidemiological
research which will more directly benefit humans."

Budkie said he doesn’t believe the decision to close was made for
financial reasons.

"Harvard wants the public to believe that this closure is due to
economics," Budkie said in a statement.

"That is simply not true. The
only way Harvard could quash this scandal is to close the primate
center, because even last year’s resignation of the Center’s director
could not end their ineptitude. This closure is the direct result of
pressure from activists led by SAEN."

Budkie said his organization will be contacting Harvard Medical School
to inquire about placing some of the animals in primate sanctuaries.

Flier said that school officials are proud of the work the center has
done over the last 50 years. Research into some of the same areas
undertaken there will be continued in other programs at the college, he
said.

We believe primate research is critical to the future of biomedical
research and the effective development of lifesaving therapies," he
said. "The Center’s research focus on HIV, infectious disease and
vaccines will continue to be effectively pursued through scientific
programs throughout HMS."